Taking Flight Night is the firstannual reading night for the English Students Association where winners of a writing contest got the opportunity to read their work aloud.

“At one time, it was just an English club run solely by one individual until the [undergraduate] arts society decided to make it run more efficiently by adding a marketing, events and finance teams,” said Manreet Lachhar, co-vice president of the ESA.

The event featured the Edna Staebler Writer in Residence Ashley Little as the master of ceremonies for the evening along with English professor Jenny Keber and Lachhar.

“A Writer in Residence or a WIR is a published author who moves onto campus by an application process,” said Lachhar.

Little was the first to read her newest short story The Plaza. She is a Canadian author of both adult and youth fiction, born in Calgary, attending the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia.

Taking Flight Night is important to give students a break from all the academic writing they do for school and work on their craft, have fun, mingle and make connections while destressing with fellow writers.

A small corner stage with a microphone for everyone to use, sat in front a lounge area equipped with couches and coffee tables. Soft jazz music played in the background, settingthe tone for the relaxed evening. Quite a few professors also came to show their support to the writers’ readings.

On Thursday nights, the café serves tall cans of beer for only $3.50, so as you can imagine it was quite a busy at the start of the event. Behind the corner stage was a lovely complimentary food spread on a tall bar table with free coffee and tea for all who attended the event. Along with the prizes for the contest winners, the ESA also gave away door prizes.

After the contest winner read their work and a quick intermission, anyone attending who wanted to read could get up on stage in random order. There were many different styles, from prose to slam poetry.

“It always makes me super happy when I see [the talent that is in Laurier for creative writing] thriving and getting the recognition it deserves,” said Lachhar.

The only drawback to that night is that it only happens once a year. I hope to see a monthly event doing readings in the café. For my first time at Veritas, it was clear that there was something in the air that fostered a calm yet spirited atmosphere and great hot and frothy lattes or a cool craft beer.